Financial Center Dinner

"Great! If he's not very entertaining, how will we make money?"

I chuckled.

I have absolutely no qualms about making money off these celebrities.

"Brother, Fatty, look how fast they're walking, like they're afraid we'll catch up!" Long Nier gestured ahead with her lips.

"I don't know if Zhou Guo is afraid, but Li Feihong is definitely afraid!" Fatty Lin said with a smile as he watched Li Feihong hurry around the corner.

"He's afraid we'll expose his past!"

Watching their disappearing figures, I curled my lip.

"Alright, that's pointless. Let's go back. Keep a close eye on Director Li and see what that little devil is talking about with him!" said Fatty Lin.

Back at the main venue, the event was still ongoing, including short film awards, screenings of overseas films, and press conferences with the creators and media.

After that, a host of top-tier celebrities made appearances one after another.

At 6 p.m., all official procedures officially concluded.

In general, the glamour and excitement of such events during the day are just a facade; the real transactions always take place behind the scenes in private drinking parties and closed-door talks.

That night, almost all the top hotels and private clubs in the city were booked by major capital groups, including the Wang brothers, who booked a high-end club on the Bund.

Investors and production teams from Hong Kong Island and Taiwan, as well as controllers of some shell offshore trading companies, were all invited.

Among these, the controllers of shell offshore trading companies are what the Wang brothers value most.

These types of people are basically wearing gloves.

If you take good care of them, the people behind them will be happy, and the business will be successful.

Of course, they also invited some top figures in Shanghai.

The Wang brothers had a good plan, but unfortunately, their limelight was stolen.

Not only did the top-tier capital from Shanghai not go, but core figures from the Hong Kong entertainment circle, represented by Huang Dacheng and Lin Zong of Huanya, also did not show up; they all went to another place.

It was Fusang Capital that caused the disruption.

They booked the top-floor banquet hall at the Shanghai World Financial Center to host the official closing dinner of the Fusang Film Week.

The consul from Japan, senior officials from the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), top producers from Shochiku and Toho Film Group, senior executives from Shanghai Film Group, and Lu Jianbo from Lukang Group, among others, were all present.

Given this arrangement, who would participate in the Wang brothers' gathering?

At this point in time, although Japan had experienced two decades of decline, it was still a formidable force internationally and especially domestically, holding the title of the world's second-largest economy.

This dinner party originally had nothing to do with the three of us; they hadn't even invited us. But before the dinner, Lu Jianbo personally invited the three of us to go with him.

"Dude, we don't really need to go to an event like this, do we?"

Lin Pangzi hesitated for a moment in response to Lu Jianbo's invitation, but took the opportunity to probe Lu Jianbo's true opinion.

"Brothers, let me tell you, you really need to go see what's going on tonight!" Lu Jianbo smiled, his tone confident. "My point is simple: if you come, you'll at least get a sense of how Fusang Capital operates across borders. Their methods are much cleaner and more sophisticated than those corrupt film industry bosses in Hong Kong. Most importantly, they're more discreet. If you go and observe, it will definitely benefit you in the future!"

"Okay, let's go!" Fatty Lin nodded.

"That's right!" Lu Jianbo said with satisfaction.

Actually, even without Lu Jianbo saying so, we wanted to go.

The Japanese are still determined to destroy us. Today they've made such a big fuss. We need to find out what they're up to!

When I arrived, well, I can only say it was breathtaking.

Looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire night view of the Huangpu River is laid out before you. It can easily inspire ambition, but it can also easily make you lose your spirit and feel that it would be worth it to have a meal here once in your life.

Because so many important figures were present, the dinner was less noisy and chaotic than a typical drinking party, and its significance was more about official formalities.

For the three of us, it was relatively boring.

If this were a dinner party hosted by the Wang brothers, there would definitely be plenty of beautiful women and a variety of activities.

But this time, it was an old man from the Japan Trade Promotion Organization who spoke.

This old man was very humble, but extremely purposeful, and spoke excellent Chinese, constantly mentioning cultural exchanges and cross-border economic and trade cooperation between Japan and Great Xia.

His actions elevated the dinner to the level of official exchanges between the two regions.

Following his speech, the overseas directors of the two major Japanese film and television giants, Shochiku and Toho, successively put forward macro-level plans for annual co-productions, overseas copyright exchange, and cross-border flow of film and television funds.

When they spoke, their reasoning was very clear, and it was evident that this was not a plan that could be put forward in a short time, but rather one that had been planned for a long time.

Upon hearing this, my first reaction was still that Japan still harbors the ambition to destroy us.

Unfortunately, we have no say in these kinds of big deals and investments that often involve hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars.

If I were to stand up and shout that all Japanese people are bad, I'd probably be thrown out like an idiot.

So the three of us just stayed by Lu Jianbo's side, quietly observing the whole time, without interrupting or trying to join in; we just watched and listened.

Compared to the clumsy tactics of the Wang brothers, Fusang Capital's methods are far more sophisticated. They use the guise of legitimate cultural exchange to carry out capital invasion and ideological infiltration.

After a few rounds of drinks, the bigwigs gradually dispersed to chat privately, and the atmosphere at the table began to relax.

Directors and producers from all walks of life have started to embrace the art-house approach, discussing ideals and creative processes.

The main reason is that these people all want to curry favor with Jiro Tatsuta, the director of "Departures".

These days, worshipping foreign things is politically correct. Anyone who says anything bad about their foreign "father" will be attacked by the masses.

Japan is the spiritual homeland of many self-proclaimed cultural figures.

With a big shot like Jiro Tatsuta around, they're practically sucking up to him!

Jiro Tatsuta remained gentle and low-key throughout, occasionally offering a few words of praise.

This praise made those directors feel as if they had been kissed by their dream goddess. If there hadn't been enough people present, I would have suspected that they might have made love on the spot.

Although it sounds a bit crude, that's the gist of it.

The three of us were incredibly annoyed, and just as we were about to lose our temper, Jiro Tatsuta spoke up.

"I have always really liked Shanghai. Amidst its prosperity and modernity, this city hides a lot of ancient heritage and mystery."

Jiro Tatsuta's Chinese is not very fluent, so he speaks slowly, which conveys a sense of sincerity.

"When I was filming 'Departures,' I always focused on folk customs about life and death, and humanistic reverence. These kinds of stories, which are rooted in local customs and contain the hidden atmosphere of the city, are the most heartwarming and can touch the audience the most."

As he spoke of folk customs and the hidden atmosphere of cities, a sense of familiarity stirred within me, and I subconsciously became serious.

Those directors, unlike us, were very serious, as if they were listening to their own father giving them a lecture.